Electrical connector

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector for adjacently disposed printed electrical circuit panels, comprising a resilient wire formed with a reversely bent first end portion disposed in a first plane and a reversely bent second end portion disposed in a second plane extending perpendicularly to the first plane. The reversely bent first end portion projects into an aperture in one of the printed circuit panels and is soldered to a terminal of an electrical circuit on the panel. The reversely bent second end portion extends through and resides in resilient engagement with side walls of a plated-through aperture serving as a terminal for an electrical circuit on another of the printed circuit panels.

United States Patent [191 Bray 1 1 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR [75] Inventor: Ralph Bray, Philadelphia, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Aeronutronic Ford Corporation, Blue Bell, Pa.

22 Filed: Dec. 21, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 427,080

[52] US. Cl. 339/17 LC; 317/101; 339/252 R; 339/275 B [51] Int. Cl. 1105K 1/02 [58] Field of Search 339/17, 18, 176, 217, 252, 339/256, 275; 317/101; 174/685 [56] References Cited 1 Aug. 12, 1975 3,706,065 12/1972 Knitter et al. 339/17 LC Primary ExaminerRoy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Terrell P. Lewis Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert D. Sanborn [57] ABSTRACT An electrical connector for adjacently disposed printed electrical circuit panels, comprising a resilient wire formed with a reversely bent first end portion disposed in a first plane and a reversely bent second end portion disposed in a second plane extending perpendicularly to the first plane. The reversely bent first end portion projects into an aperture in one of the printed circuit panels and is soldered to a terminal of an electrical circuit on the panel. The reversely bent second end portion extends through and resides in resilient engagement with side walls of a plated-through aperture serving as a terminal for an electrical circuit on another of the printed circuit panels.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to improved means for electrically connecting circuits on adjacently disposed printed circuit panels extending with angular relationship to one another.

In the assembly of radio receivers, and the like, of th type including more than one printed circuit panel, or board, it has been a practice to provide connector assemblies comprising mating disconnectible parts. One part of an assembly is attached to circuits on one panel and its mating part is attached to circuits on the other panel. The panels are then so positioned adjacent one another as to accommodate connection of the mating parts of the connector assemblies. In a construction of this type, the circuits must be arranged with care to ensure alignment of the mating parts of the connector assemblies. Attention to such arrangement is time consuming, and the resulting construction often utilizes space inefficiently, for example by extending the paths of the conductive circuits.

It is a general objective of the present invention to provide improved means for electrically connecting adjacently disposed electrical circuit panels which overcome the aforementioned problems.

It is a further and more particular objective of the invention to provide improved connector means of the aforementioned type which requires less precise alignment of mating elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In achievement of the foregoing as well as other objectives and advantages, the invention contemplates provision of an electrical connector for adjacently disposed electrical circuit-bearing panels, comprising a resilient wire formed with a reversely bent first end portion disposed in a first plane, and a reversely bent second end portion disposed in a second plane extending with angularity to the first plane, the reversely bent first end portion projecting into an aperture in a first circuit panel and being solder bonded to an adjacent wiring circuit on said panel, and the reversely bent second end portion extending through and residing in resilient engagement with electrically conductive side walls of an aperture comprising an electrical terminal for a circuit on a second circuit panel.

The manner in which the foregoing as well as other objectives and advantages of the invention may best be achieved will be more fully understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in light of the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective showing on a somewhat reduced scale, of radio receiving apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view, taken generally along the line indicated by arrows 22 applied to FIG. 1, and illustrating electrical connector assemblies contemplated by the invention;

FIG. 3 is a view of apparatus seen in FIG. 2, illustrating an assembly feature afforded by the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a lower left hand portion of the apparatus seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, and illustrating details of construction the electrical connector assembly contemplated by the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective showing of the electrical connector, per se.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With more detailed reference to the drawing, and first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a radio receiver apparatus 10, in which the invention has particular utility, includes a combination housing and frame structure 11. A bezel provided with a station dial 12 is affixed to the front of frame structure 11, and a pointer 13 of known design is movable with tuner mechanism 14 across dial 12. Tuner mechanism 14 is of known type, and is operable eitherby manually operated pushbuttons 15 or manually operated knob 16. A conventional on-off switch and volume control knob is provided at 17.

With more particular reference to FIG. 2, electrical circuit-bearing panel structures such as printed circuit panels 21, 22 and 23 are disposed in frame structure 11 as shown. Panel 21 is supported on tuner 14, extends in a generally vertical plane, and includes the usual solder bonded components. Of these components are tuning coils 24 which extend from the panel and into coil shield means (not shown) of the tuner 14; in turn, the movable cores (not shown) of the tuner extend into the coils 24. Tuning coil and panel support structure thus far described is disclosed in my US Pat. No. 3,195,050, issued July 13, 1965, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

Printed circuit panel 22 extends generally horizontally along the bottom of frame 11, partially beneath tuner 14 and partially beyond panel 21, and is supported by suitable brackets, one of which is seen at 30, provided on tuner 14. A portion of panel 22 is disposed closely adjacent to the lower edge of panel 21, which panels further are mutually perpendicular.

Circuit panel 23 extends generally parallel to panel 21, and is supported on brackets 31 provided on a rear wall 11b of frame portion 11a that is telescopingly engaged with the main portion of frame 1 l, as will best be understood from the partially exploded showing in FIG. 3, in which screw-attached portions 11a and have been removed in the directions shown. Still with reference to FIG. 2, a lower edge portion of panel 23 is disposed in close adjacency to a rear edge of panel 22, which panels are perpendicular to one another.

Circuit panels 21, 22, and 23 include radio receiver circuit components or elements that are so related as to require electrical interconnections as between the circuit elements on the different panels. It will be appreciated that the present invention affords improved means for providing these interconnections.

In especial accordance with the invention, and with reference also to FIGS. 4 and 5, taken with FIGS. 2 and 3, panel circuit interconnection means contemplated by the invention are designated generally by the numeral 25. One such interconnection is shown between circuit elements on panels 21 and 22, and another between circuit elements on panels 22 and 23. Each of means 25 comprises a resilient wire, preferably music wire about 0.016 inch in diameter, formed with a reversely bent first end portion 26 disposed in a first plane and a reversely bent second end portion 27 disposed in a second plane extending with angularity, preferably perpendicularly, to the first plane. Accordingly, in the showing of FIG. 4 the plane of portion 26 is vertical and the plane of portion 27 is horizontal. Each of the reversely bent end portions 26 and 27 further is so disposed as to have substantial symmetry about respective axes that extend with substantial angularity, preferably perpendicularly, relative to one another. As will be described in detail in what follows, the axes of symmetry are such that they will extend substantially along the polar axes of apertured terminals on the panels.

The reversely bent first portion 26 projects into a plated-through aperture 28 comprising the terminal portion of an electrical circuit on panel 23, and is solder bonded at 32 to an adjacent conductive pad region 28a of the terminal. To facilitate soldering, connector 25 is coated with a metal such as tin, about 0.002 inch thick. The reversely bent second end portion 27 extends through, and resides in resilient engagement with side walls of, a plated-through aperture 29 comprising an electrical circuit terminal on adjacent circuit panel 21. The side walls of the aperture, typically about 0.10 inch in diameter, are tapered in the direction of extent of the bent portion 27. This taper, in combination with the relative angularity of the legs of bent portion 27, preferably about 45, ensures positive electrical contact as well as facilitating ready assembly and disassembly of panels 23 and 22 upon movements of frame portion. 11a between the positions illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Although only two connectors 25 have been shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be appreciated that, in radio receiver apparatus of the type shown, as many as six connectors 25 provide electrical interconnection between panels 21 and 22, and five connectors 25 provide interconnection between panels 22 and 23.

It will therefore be appreciated that the invention affords improved connector means characterized by ease of assembly and disassembly, and by its improved performance.

I claim: I

l. The combination of an electrical connector with at least a pair of adjacently disposed substantially perpendicular electrical circuit-breaking panel structures, comprising: a resilient wire formed with a reversely bent first portion disposed in a first plane, and a reversely bent second end portion disposed in a second plane extending substantially at right angles to the first plane; the reversely bent first end portion projecting into an aperture provided in a first circuit bearing panel with said second plane adjacent and substantially parallel to said first panel, said first end portion being both electrically and mechanically affixed to an adjacent circuit on the panel; and the reversely bent second end portion extending through and residing in resilient engagement with electrically conductive side walls of an aperture provided on said second wiring circuit panel, said electrically conductive side walls comprising electrical terminal means for a circuit on said second panel.

2. The combination according to claim 1, and characterized in that at least said first circuit bearing panel comprises a printed circuit board, and in that said first end portion of said connector is solder bonded to a terminal provided for said circuit.

3. The combination according to claim 2, and further characterized in that said side walls of the aperture on said second panel are tapered in the direction of extent of said second end portion from said first end portion of said connector.

4. The combination according to claim 1, and further characterized in that each of said reversely bent wire portions is so disposed as to have its symmetry substantially about the polar axis of the respective panel aperture into which it extends. 

1. The combination of an electrical connector with at least a pair of adjacently disposed substantially perpendicular electrical circuit-breaking panel structures, comprising: a resilient wire formed with a reversely bent first portion disposed in a first plane, and a reversely bent second end portion disposed in a second plane extending substantially at right angles to the first plane; the reversely bent first end portion projecting into an aperture provided in a first circuit bearing panel with said second plane adjacent and substantially parallel to said first panel, said first end portion being both electrically and mechanically affixed to an adjacent circuit on the panel; and the reversely bent second end portion extending through and residing in resilient engagement with electrically conductive side walls of an aperture provided on said second wiring circuit panel, said electrically conductive side walls comprising electrical terminal means for a circuit on said second panel.
 2. The combination according to claim 1, and characterized in that at least said first circuit bearing panel comprises a printed circuit board, and in that said first end portion of said connector is solder bonded to a terminal provided for said circuit.
 3. The combination according to claim 2, and further characterized in that said side walls of the aperture on said second panel are tapered in the direction of extent of said second end portion from said first end portion of said connector.
 4. The combination according to claim 1, and further characterized in that each of said reversely bent wire portions is so disposed as to have its symmetry substantially about the polar axis of the respective panel aperture into which it extends. 